The City took fright at a slowdown in sales at Argos yesterday despite assurances by the parent Home Retail Group that the dip in growth was a result of poor weather.

Argos reported like-for-like sales growth of 1.9 per cent in the 13 weeks to June 1, which compares poorly with that of the final quarter of its last financial year (see graphic). The shares tumbled 13p, or 9 per cent, to close at 131.1p yesterday.

Terry Duddy, the chief executive of Home Retail, attributed the weaker sales growth to poor take-up of seasonal products, saying: “We’re seeing some very